Battery hand lamp



June 17, 1930. Jjs. ZOOK .BATTERY HAND LAMP Filed oct. 1e. 192s Y-INVENTOR F2924. /9 Joh/2 5. Zoo/f ATToRNEYs Patented `fune 17, 1930UNITI-:o STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN S. ZOOK, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN,ASSIGNOR TO BURGESS BATTERY COMPANY, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN, ACORPORATION O1? WISCONSIN BATTERY HAND LAMP Application led October 16,1928. Serial N'o. 312,809.

My invention relates to a battery handV lamp and consists of a dry cellbattery having an incandescent 'bulb in a separable lamp head soconstructed as to be capable of being moved by the thumb or finger intoan operative or inoperative positio n.`A

It is an object of my invention to=provide an electrical conducting andcontact member to be incorporated in a hand lamp of this type to insureproper cooperation between the movable and stationary contacts at' alltimes and prevent misadjustments that other-` wise may be inherent ordevelop with use.

This invention consists essentiallyof improvements over the devicesdisclosed in the applications of John S. Zook, Serial N o. 225,045,tiled Oct. 10, 1927 (now Patent No. 1,701,093, granted February 5, 1929)and Halvard F. Nygard, Serial No. 286,620, filed June 19, 1928 and otherdevices' of similar character.

Further objects, advantages and distinct features will become apparentfrom the following detailed description, which is to be taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical, sectional view of my battery hand lamp with ,thelamp holder in solid'lines for the operative position and in dottedlines for the 'inoperative position, and with my improved connecting andcontact member in position;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a substantially rectangular perforatedinsulating sheet which forms part of my connecting member;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of the insulating sheet material witha metal eyelet mounted in the perforation;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 3; v

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the cup at the top of the hand lamp with theinsulating sheet material mounted in p'osition'therein;

Fig. 6 is a part sectional view of a modied form of my improved handlampl with the lamp head removed; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of'the hand lamp shown in Fig.. 6.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5 ofthe drawings, my improved hand lamppreferably consists essentially 'of one or more dry cells'l 4and 2,electrically connected as by connector 3. The battery is' arranged in asuitable carton 4,

which may be of paper composition or metal f and which projects abovethetopof the dry cells to form an oval receptacle. In this receptacle isplaced a metallic cup 5, which is electrically connected to one pole ofthe battery, preferably by soldering to the negative can as at 6. Anopening 7, in the bottom of the cup 5 allows the positive battery pole 8to be exposed. The pole 8 is insulated from cup 5 by means of insulatingwasher 9. The cells are insulated from each other by means of a strip 10of insulating sheet material.

The separable lamp head which is mounted in cup 5 comprises a lampholder or backing member 11', formed of sheet metal, and provided With'cams 12 at its base portion. The incandescent bulby 13 may be movablymounted Within the backing member 11 by being screwed into the pivotedsocket member 14, or the bulb 13 may be rigidly mounted within thebacking member 11 by being soldered directly to the base portlonthereof. A looped spring wire 15 is bailed to the backing member 11 andis adapted to be removably held in position at its looped end -by wings16 and lug 17 which are punched in from hthe sides and bottomrespectively of cup 5. Wings 16 also cause spring wire 15 to exert adownward spring pressure upony backing member 11, l

The edges of opening 7 are provided with downturned flanges 18 andupturned flanges 18. A substantially rectangular piece of insulatingsheet material 19, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is adapted to be arranged inthis opening. The member 19 is provided with a perforation20 into Iwhicha metal eyelet 21 -may be securely fastened by any suitable means suchas riveting. The insulating sheet 19 is of a width substantially equalto the length of the opening 7, and is adapted to slide sideways intoplace between flanges 18v and the bottom of cup 5 with its planeparallel to the' plane of the bottom of'cup 5, as shown in Fig. 5. Theinsulating member 19 with the eyelet -21 mounted therein is sopositioned that after the cup 5 is in position 10,0

at the top of the battery, eyelet 21 will be directly. over pole 8. Adrop of fused conducting material, such as solder 22, may then beallowed to run into the hole of the eyelet and down upon the top surfaceof the pole 8, providing a permanent electrical connection between thetwo.

' The operation of the handv lamp is as follows. Spring wire 15 isbailed to the backing member 11 at 23, and the lamp head is adapted topivot at this point. The thumb or finger may easily engage the tip 24 ofbacking member 11 and move it from its normal inoperative position,shown in dotted lines vin Fig. 1, to the operative position as shown insolid lines. During this operation cams 12 slide upon the bottom of cup5 and are guided by flanges 18 to the outside of opening 7. The cams 12areso shaped as to cause spring wire 15 to exert greater downwardpressure atthe intermediate position and for that reason, the lamp headwill assume either position with a snap. In the operative position, thebacking member 11 acts as a reflector for the bulb 13 while in theinoperative position it forms a closure for the hand lamp. In theoperative position the electrical circuit is completed 'as follows: Thecup 5 isgelectrically connected to one pole of the battery at 6 andsince the backing member 11 is in Contact with cup 5 in several places,the screw terminal of bulb 13 is in the electrical circuit by virtue ofits being screwed into the metallic socket 14, or by being soldereddirectly to the backing member 11. The base terminal 26 contacts withthe top portion of eyelet 21 and solder v22. The top surface of solder22 is arranged to be substantially flush with the top of eyelet 21. Thesolder and eyelet thus cooperate to form a contact member for terminal26 and a conducting member between terminal 26 and pole 8.

There are several advantages gained by the l t ed to contact directlytherewith. Since in-` dividual cells often vary in height, it isimpossible to always obtain a uniform relation between the positions o fthe pole 8 and cup 5. In the operation of assembling the lamp head,regardless of whether the bulb is mounted in a socket or soldered directto the backing member 11, it is necessary that the bulb position, ineach hand lamp, be adjusted to pro' vide proper contact between the baseterminal 26 and the pole -8 when the lamp head is in the operativeposition. The most satisfactory results are obtained if the baseterminal 26 makes firm contact with the`pole 8 when cams12 and the loweredge 27 of the backing member 11 both rest upon the bottom of the. cup5, as shown in Fig. 1. y The position of the lamp head is then fixed. Inthe event that the base terminal 26 should protrude farther from thebase portion of the backing member 11, the cams 12 and the lower edge 27will not rest upon the bottom of cup 5 and the lamp head may then bemoved into a number of positions. In case the base terminal 26 does notprotrude far enough it will fail to make contact with the pole 8. Viththe intermediate connecting member in position the effective height ofthe battery terminal 8 is always the same relative to the bottom of cup5 and the same position of the bulb 13 within backing member 11 may vbemaintained in every lamp head. The positioning operation may be made tobe automatic.

Unless the eyelet 21 is firmly held in its position, as by soldering,the repeated operation of the lamp head will eXert a hammering actionupon the pole 8 which 'will tend to drive the cell 2 lower in thecarton4, with the result that the terminal 26 may soon fail .to makecontact with pole 8. Insulating material 19 This construction allows thebattery unit to be assembled completely before it is inserted into thecarton 4, thereby greatly simplifyl ing the assembling of the hand lamp.If the carton 4 is made of metal the cell 2 and connector 3 need only tobe insulated from the metal can. It may be preferable to wrap both cellswith a wrapper as a unit anmftalso insulate the bottom connector. Such aattery unit may be slipped readily into and out of the carton 4.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate a modified form of may improved hand lampcomprising a plurality of cells 28 and 29 in end-to-end relation, withthe carbon poles lowermost, encased by an open-ended cylinder 30 ofinsulating material, within a metallic casing 31. The upper end ofcasing 31 is punched to receive a cup 32, similar to cup 5 of Fig. 1,which may be soldered or otherwise suitably secured in place. The cellsare connected in series since the carbon vrod of cell 28 is soldered tothezinc can of cell] 29. The carbon pole 33'rests upon and may besoldered to) the bottom of casing 31 which provides electricalconnection between pole 33 and cup 32.

Cup 32 is insulated from cell 28 by means of a fibrous washer34 which isprovided with an eccentric opening 35 beneath the flanged opening in thebottom of cup 32. A piece of insulating sheet material 36 containing aneyelet 37 is maintained in place by flanges 38 formed on the cup. A dropof solder 39 connects the eyelet 37 to the bottom of the negative can32v and to the cell 28. A lamp head similar to that heretofore describedis adapted to be inserted into cup 32 and to be operated ashereinbefore'descr-ibed. The assembly in this modification is rigidlheld together and forms a very compact evice.

Although this battery hand lamp has been described in connection withcertain specific embodiments, it should be clearlyr understood that.this invention is not limited to the particular structural detailsshown, and that certain changes, modifications and alterations may bemade Without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims. f I claim:

1. In a battery hand lamp, a battery, a cup at one end of said battery,said cup being electrically connected to one pole of said battery andhaving an opening for exposing the other pole and being insulated fromsaid second pole, flanges along the edges of said opening, a piece ,ofinsulating sheet material iitting between said flanges, a perforation insaid sheet material, a metal eyelet mounted in said perforation, andfusible conducting materiall in said eyelet connecting said eyelet Withsaid exposed pole.

2. V I u a battery hand lamp, a batteryfa cup at one end of saidbattery, said cup being electrically connected to one pole of saidbattery and having an opening for exposing the other pole and beinginsulated from said second pole, a piece of insulating sheet materialmounted in said opening, said sheet material being provided With aperforation, a metal eyelet mounted-in said perforation, conductingmaterial connecting said eyelet to said exposed pole and an incandescentbulb pivotally mounted in said cup and adapted to be pivoted into anoperative or inoperative vposition, the base of said bulb contactingWith said conducting material when in said operative position. I

3. In a battery hand lamp, a battery, a'cup at one end of 'said battery,said cup being .connectedto one oleof said battery and having an openingor exposing the other pole,`

an electrical conducting member insulated from said cup and permanentlyconnected to said exposed pole and an incandescent bulb pivotallymounted in said cup and adapted f to be pivoted into an operative orinoperative position, the base of said bulb contacting with saidconducting'member when in said operativeposition.

4. In a battery hand lamp, a battery, a cup at one end of said battery,said cup being electrically connected to one pole ofsaid battery andhaving an opening for exposing the other pole and being insulated fromsaid" second pole, a metal conducting member mounted in said opening,said con ucting member being insulated from said cup and contacting withsaid exposed pole, and an incandescent bulb pivotally mounted in saidcup and adapted -to be pivoted into an operative or inoperative anopening for exposing the other pole and being insulated from said secondpole, means comprising an electrical connecting and contact membermounted in said opening and permanently connected to said exposed, poleIto maintain constant the effective position of said exposedpole'relative to the bottom of said cup', and an incandescent bulbpivotally mounted in said cup and adapted to be pivoted into anoperative or inoperative position, the base of said bulb contacting withsaid contact member when in said operative position.

6. Ina battery hand lamp,` a battery, a cup at the top of` said battery,said cup being connected to one pole of said battery and having anopening for exposing .the other pole, and being insulated from saidsecond pole,l means for permanently adjusting the effective height ofsaid second pole relative to the bottom of said cup, said meanscomprising a conducting member supported'by said cup and permay'ico

